What Do Suspicious Transaction Reports Actually Capture? Evidence from Italy

• In Event: POL Panel 3. Police legitimacy and Trust around the world

Abstract

The negative effects of money laundering on society have led to the creation of a comprehensive global anti-money laundering framework. Despite extensive discussion on the efficacy of this framework and criticism of its foundational principles and operational methods, the role of suspicious transaction reports—a key element of this framework—has received little attention. This study utilizes data from multiple institutional sources to evaluate the Italian anti-money laundering system, specifically examining the impact of suspicious transaction reports on criminal investigations. Findings indicate that, on average, one in every 16 reports provides valuable information for existing cases, while one in every 100 reports contributes to the initiation of new criminal investigations. Suspicious transaction reports are responsible for starting 15% of all money laundering probes. Notably, approximately 85% of the criminal cases initiated by these reports involve offenses other than money laundering, such as fraud, loansharking, and tax evasion.

Authors

• Alberto Aziani, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca

• Mirko Nazzari, Università Cattolica - Transcrime (Milan)